” Linda J. Bilmes and Michael D. Intriligator, ask in a recent paper, “How many wars is the US fighting today?”

Citing a page at US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) website, they highlight the “areas of responsibility” publicly listed:

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) is active in 20 countries across the Middle Eastern region, and is actively ramping-up military training, counterterrorism programs, logistical support, and funding to the military in various nations. At this point, the US has some kind of military presence in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, U.A.E., Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

US Africa Command (AFRICOM), according to the paper, “supports military-to-military relationships with 54 African nations.”

[Gosztola points out that the U.S. military is also conducting operations of one kind or another in Syrian, Jordan, South Sudan, Kosovo, Libya, Yemen, the Congo, Uganda, Mali, Niger and other countries.]

Altogether, that makes 74 nations where the US is fighting or “helping” some force in some proxy struggle that has been deemed beneficial by the nation’s masters of war.

***

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides an accounting of all the publicly acknowledged deployments of US military forces

Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf has died in Tampa, Fla. He was 78 years old.

” Best known as the man who led Desert Storm in the winter of 1991, he became the public face of the first American war to be covered around the clock, a conflict that featured stealth bombers and TV-ready cockpit footage that showed precision-guided bombs hitting their marks.”

ANOTHER PROMINENT MILITARY FAMILY LINKED TO JILL KELLEY’S SISTER

” This connection between Natalie and another family at the top of CENTCOM comes in addition to General David Petraeus and General John Allen. As previously reported by Breitbart News, Jill Kelley may have used her influence to have both former CIA Director General Petraeus and General Allen to speak favorably on her twin’s behalf during her custody battle.

Petraeus was in the midst of leading the investigation into the Benghazi mission attack when he took time to write a letter of support for Ms. Khawam. The generals wrote flowery testaments to Natalie’s parenting skills based on observations of her behavior at social functions. The letters stand in stark contrast to the evidence presented in the case and to Judge Neal Kravitz’s ruling where he deemed:

Ms. Khawam appears to lack any appreciation or respect for the importance of honesty and integrity in her interactions with her family, employers, and others with whom she comes in contact. The court fully expects that Ms. Khawam’s pattern of misrepresentations about virtually everything, including the most important aspects of her life, will continue indefinitely.In the same case, her twin, Jill Kelley, was ruled to be a “patently biased and unbelievable witness.” “